Insolently Rugged
Shy of taking a hammer to the damn thing, this Smartphone can match your pace!
Motorola regards its newest hard-as-nails device as Life Proof. And while that’s going a bit far, there’s certainly room for improvement.
What Motorola probably meant was this compact little beast is packed together so tightly, it’s water resistant, dust proof* and sports a Corning Gorilla Glass scratch resistant screen. Shy of taking a hammer to the damn thing, this Smartphone can match your pace!
*a bit of an exaggeration, dust isn’t magically repelled because Motorola battened down the hatches...
Superficially, the notion of a rugged Smartphone jars, remarkably so if contrasted with the delicate aesthetics of the iPhone 4. Yet there’s ever been a market for damage resistant mobiles. So who’s to say the Smartphone can’t be durable? Certainly not Motorola!
Largely missing from the market of late, they have finally found a legitimate foot in the door via the robust Defy +.
There are some minor trade-offs with this level of resilience however. Screen luminosity is a notch below par. You might even be reduced squinting! What is this, the Dark Ages?!
Similarly, everything is crammed in so very neatly, (case in point: the rear casing must be locked into place) the Defy + nearly snapped my SIM in half. I don’t know about the rest of you but I tend to need that!
Otherwise, save some much needed spring cleaning on the home pages (useless apps abound), the Defy + is a functional, durable, ruggedly handsome unit with brawn to match its brains.
Its Android 2.3.4 boasts some deft touches (re-sizeable widgets, we’re looking at you... with glee!) Elsewhere its 1Ghz processor enables speedy browsing. The naffness of garish port- protectors is balanced by the generosity of an inbuilt 2GB MicroSD. Its 5MP camera and 30FPS video capture are welcome, serviceable and scarcely noteworthy additions.
Regrettably, the interface lacks the familiar ease of a numerical keypad. The amalgamation of an accelerometer QWERTY, responsive Haptic feedback and the occasionally splotchy but constantly entertaining “Swype” make for a satisfactory user interface.
Unless of course you’re a mountaineer, shaking with exposure, his digits clumped in grime, sweat and tears stinging his eyes as you strains to prod H-E-L-P on a 3.7” screen: One of innumerable highly likely scenarios in which a number pad would be preferable.
A device for both the clumsy or adventurous, after a noticeable absence, Motorola finally cement their position in the Smartphone market with the Defy +. Yet ultimately, they fail to grip it by the throat.
Minor upgrades to the screen, input and under the hood would see the Defy + as a recommended purchase. Instead it will have to be content as the market leader in the Rugged Smartphone department.
Admittedly it’s a diminutive market, but the achievement stands!